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Grants of legal assistance are recorded against a primary case category code and not by individual subject matters of a grant. SLAB have provided the information requested using category codes, which is the most accurate reflection of numbers of case types available.

Between January 2020 and November 2021, the number of entities submitting these types of intimation or application except where otherwise noted.

i) Claims against public authorities

{includes relevant cases of reparation, judicial review, interdict, breach of contract}

87 firms, 135 practitioners

2 CLAO offices, 1 CLAO practitioner

0 PDSO Offices

ii) Community Care

{includes cases at the Additional Support Needs Tribunal and assessment of need, eligibility / charging for services and direct payments}

13 firms, 23 practitioners

1 CLAO office, 1 CLAO practitioner

0 PDSO offices

iii) Discrimination,

24 firms, 37 practitioners.

0 CLAO offices

0 PDSO offices

iv) Education,

26 firms, 28 practitioners.

0 CLAO Offices

0 PDSO Offices

v) Housing and debt,

247 firms, 447 practitioners

3 CLAO offices, 15 CLAO practitioners

0 PDSO offices

vi) Immigration and asylum and

71 firms, 174 practitioners

1 CLAO office, 1 CLAO practitioner

0 PDSO offices

vii) Family

429 firms, 871 practitioners

3 CLAO offices, 10 CLAO practitioners

0 PDSO offices

No, the Scottish Government did not have any discussion with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in relation to increasing Scottish Government’s Climate Justice Fund.

To clarify the figures for Scottish Government's Climate Justice Fund, we announced a doubling of it in our Programme for Government; increasing from £12 million to £24 million over the course of this Parliament. During COP, we announced a further 50% rise – from £24 million to £36 million, over the course of the Parliament.

This information is in the public domain and can be found on the Scottish Government’s website within the Budget Bill documents covering the last ten years. This information can also be obtained and found on the Scottish Legal Board’s website from their published Annual Accounts.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has provided data for the number of ‘active’ practitioners and firms. This includes criminal practitioners and firms in each year that submitted at least one application for criminal legal assistance (Advice and Assistance, Legal Aid or Advice by way of Representation (ABWOR)). SLAB has been able to provide relevant data from October 2014. Data older than this is destroyed as per its records disposal procedures which are in line with good records management.

Criminal Practitioners Practising

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that legal assistance continues to be available to all those facing issues such as housing concerns. In our Programme for Government we committed to engage with the legal professionals and other stakeholders to review the Legal Aid system, and to introduce a Legal Aid Reform Bill in this Parliament, ensuring that the system is flexible, easy to access and meets the needs of those who use it.

The Scottish Government has reiterated its commitment to retaining a demand led Fund to support a wide scope of actions. Particular consideration will be given, during the development of the Bill, to how more targeted and planned interventions can support user need.

There is no system of coroners' inquests in Scotland unlike England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The responsibility for the investigation of any death that requires further explanation rests with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Any sudden, suspicious, unexpected or unexplained death and any death which has occurred in circumstances which give rise to public concern, can result in a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) a public examination of the circumstances of that death conducted before a sheriff.

Legal aid is available for relatives participating in an FAI on the same basis as for civil proceedings and the same statutory tests must be met.

Civil legal aid has generous financial eligibility thresholds and those who are entitled to participate in an FAI, such as family, are assumed to have probable cause. In terms of assessing ‘reasonableness’ the Scottish Legal Aid Board expects that the Procurator Fiscal will usually be able to represent the interests of the relatives. However, where a relative of a person who died in prison or police custody applies, SLAB will look favourably on the application.

SLAB holds data in respect of applications from 2012 only. In respect of FAIs I can confirm that since 2012 there has been a total of 134 applications received, of which 111 were granted. That is a grant rate of approximately 83%.

In the financial year 2012-13 90% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2013-14 78% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2014-15 71% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2015-16 93% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2016-17 88% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2017-18 87% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2018-19 79% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2019-20 81% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2020-21 86% of applications received were granted.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that legal assistance continues to be available to all those facing legal concerns. In our Programme for Government we committed to engage with the legal professionals and other stakeholders to review the Legal Aid system, and to introduce a Legal Aid Reform Bill in this Parliament, to deliver a system that is flexible, easy to access and that meets the needs of those who use it.

The Scottish Government consulted on legal aid reform in 2019 and has stated its willingness to take forward supported recommendations that will deliver an enhanced system of legal aid across Scotland and reiterated its commitment to retaining a demand led Fund to support a wide scope of actions. Particular consideration will be given, during the development of the Bill, to how more targeted and planned interventions can support user need and align with identified government priorities. There is real value for both users and providers in achieving a user-focused and diverse delivery model; users can access appropriate interventions at the right time, and providers can better target their expertise to those who require it.

The scope of legal aid will be considered as part of the development of a Bill, and I refer to my response to S6W-04609 on 8 December 2021 which provides information on the Scottish Government’s plans to reform legal aid. The Scottish Government has previously committed, in its response to the Independent Review on Legal Aid by Martyn Evan, that legal aid will continue to be available for a wide range of cases and proceedings.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Business births, deaths and survival rates - based on VAT/PAYE registrations and de-registrations - are produced by the Office for National Statistics within their Business Demography publications. Data are not published for parliamentary regions, however data are available by local authority area. Data are not available on a monthly basis, only on a calendar year basis. Tables 2.1(a), (b) and (c) at the link below provide the business deaths by local authority areas, in Scotland, for 2015 to 2020.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable

Legal aid is currently available to meet the costs of mediation where appropriate. Again, interaction between mediation and legal aid is a matter that will be considered a part of development of a Bill and I refer to my response to
‎ S6W-04609 on 8 December 2021. In the meantime, the Scottish Government is actively working with stakeholders to expand the availability of mediation and arbitration services within the civil justice system to give our citizens, businesses and organisations access to flexible, affordable and less stressful means of settling disputes, benefitting them and saving time in courts.

The Scottish Government is making available £2.332 million to the Scottish Legal Aid Board in 2021-22 to support projects offering in court expert advice and representation to help people tackle and resolve a wide range of problems including debt, housing, homelessness and small claims court actions.

The Scottish Government is also making available £100k to Scottish Mediation and £115k to the Scottish Arbitration Centre in 2021-22 to promote and expand the provision of Mediation and Arbitration services in Scotland.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers